The U.S. is accelerating the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East amid an imminent threat to Israel from the Islamic Republic of Iran and Hezbollah, Iran’s largest top terrorist proxy group.
The announcement came after Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant on Sunday about the situation.
The Pentagon said in a statement that the U.S. was taking “every possible step to defend Israel and noted the strengthening of U.S. military force posture and capabilities throughout the Middle East in light of escalating regional tensions.”
“Reinforcing this commitment, the Secretary Austin has ordered the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN Carrier Strike Group, equipped with F-35C fighters, to accelerate its transit to the Central Command area of responsibility, adding to the capabilities already provided by the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT Carrier Strike Group,” the statement continued. “Additionally, the Secretary has ordered the USS Georgia (SSGN 729) guided missile submarine to the Central Command region.”
The expected attack comes after Israel killed Fuad Shukr last month, Hezbollah’s “most senior military commander and the head of its Strategic Unit” and Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah’s “right-hand man”, according to the IDF.
Shukr was responsible for directing all of Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel since Hamas’ unprecedented October 7 terrorist attack in which thousands of terrorists stormed into Israel from Gaza and murdered 1,200 people, wounded more than 5,000, and took hundreds of people hostage.
The U.S. government had placed a $5 million bounty on Shukr for playing a “central role in the October 23, 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine Corps Barracks in Beirut which killed 241 U.S. military personnel and wounded 128 others,” according to the U.S. State Department.
Israel is also believed to be behind the killing last month of Hamas terrorist leader Ismail Haniyeh in a bombing on a guest house he was staying at inside Iran.
Various intelligence assessments have concluded that the attack will be coordinated between Iran and Hezbollah and will likely occur early this week.
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